Neste trabalho, mostramos que é possível suprimir a maioria dos processos inelásticos que podem causar perdas de átomos em armadilhas magneto-ópticas. Nossos resultados revelam que o processo de blindagem óptica (demonstrado pelo nosso grupo, pela primeira vez para o processo de ionização fotoassociativa – Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1911 (1994)) é bem mais geral do que se supunha. Permitindo, inclusive, a supressão de colisões entre átomos no estado fundamental. E provavelmente qualquer outro processo inelástico que ocorra a curtas distâncias internucleares. Para se chegar a esses resultados, foi necessário desenvolver uma nova técnica de aprisionamento, que permite o estudo de colisões frias, mesmo em armadilhas cujo potencial de confinamento é pequeno. Graças a essa técnica foi possível, pela primeira vez, observar perdas causadas por mudança de estrutura hiperfina, numa armadilha de átomos de sódio operando na linha D1 (carregada a partir de uma célula de vapor). Essa técnica ainda nos permitiu medir a taxa de colisões frias () no trap da linha D1, um dado que até então não existia na literatura. Para verificar a confiabilidade dos resultados obtidos por essa técnica, realizamos também medidas de  na linha D2 e comparamos esses resultados com outros existentes na literatura (obtidos por uma técnica diferente). A boa concordância entre esses resultados nos deixa confiantes em dizer que essa técnica, além de ser muito interessante, no estudo de armadilhas rasas (seja isso devido à intensidade dos lasers de aprisionamento, seja devido a natureza própria da armadilha), é também bastante confiável / In this work, we showed that is possible to suppress most of the inelastic processes that may cause losses of atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Our results reveal that the process of optical shielding (demonstrated by our group, for the first time to photoassociative ionization - Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1911 (1994)) is much more general than it was supposed. Even allowing the suppression of ground state collisions and probably any other inelastic process that happens at short internuclear distances. To achieve those results, it was necessary to develop a new trapping technique, which allows the study of cold collisions, even in traps whose confinement potential is small. Thanks to that technique it was possible, for the first time, to observe losses caused by hyperfine changing collisions, in a trap of sodium atoms operating in the D1 line (loaded from a vapor cell). That technique has still allowed us to measure the rate of cold collisions () for the D1 line trap, a result which, until now, did not exist in the literature. To verify the reliability of the results obtained by that technique, we also accomplished measures of  in the D2 line and compared those results with other existent ones in the literature (obtained by a different technique). The good agreement among those results, made us confident in saying that this technique, besides being very interesting in the study of shallow traps (due to the intensity of the trapping lasers, or due to the own nature of the trap), it is also quite reliable.

<p>When light exhibits particle properties, and when matter exhibits wave properties quantum mechanics is needed to describe physical phenomena. </p><p>A two-photon source produces nonmaximally entangled photon pairs when the source is small enough to diffract light. It is shown that diffraction degrades the entanglement. Quantum states produced in this way are used to probe the complementarity between path information and interference in Young's double slit experiment.</p><p>When two photons have a nonmaximally entangled polarization it is shown that the Pancharatnam phase is dependent on the entanglement in a nontrivial way. This could be used for implementing simple quantum logical circuits. </p><p>Magnetic traps are capable of holding cold neutral atoms. It is shown that magnetic traps and guides can be generated by thin wires etched on a surface using standard nanofabrication technology. These <i>atom chips</i> can hold and manipulate atoms located a few microns above the surface with very high accuracy. The potentials are very versatile and allows for highly complex designs, one such design implemented here is a beam splitter for neutral atoms. Interferometry with these confined de Broglie is also considered. These atom chips could be used for implementing quantum logical circuits.</p>

When light exhibits particle properties, and when matter exhibits wave properties quantum mechanics is needed to describe physical phenomena. A two-photon source produces nonmaximally entangled photon pairs when the source is small enough to diffract light. It is shown that diffraction degrades the entanglement. Quantum states produced in this way are used to probe the complementarity between path information and interference in Young's double slit experiment. When two photons have a nonmaximally entangled polarization it is shown that the Pancharatnam phase is dependent on the entanglement in a nontrivial way. This could be used for implementing simple quantum logical circuits. Magnetic traps are capable of holding cold neutral atoms. It is shown that magnetic traps and guides can be generated by thin wires etched on a surface using standard nanofabrication technology. These atom chips can hold and manipulate atoms located a few microns above the surface with very high accuracy. The potentials are very versatile and allows for highly complex designs, one such design implemented here is a beam splitter for neutral atoms. Interferometry with these confined de Broglie is also considered. These atom chips could be used for implementing quantum logical circuits.

Ion traps are an incredibly versatile tool which have many applications throughout the physical sciences, including such diverse topics as mass spectrometry, precision frequency metrology, tests of fundamental physics, and quantum computing. In this thesis, experiments are presented which involve trapping and measuring properties of Th³⁺. Th³⁺ ions are of unique interest in part because they are a promising platform for studying an unusually low-lying nuclear transition in the 229Th nucleus which could eventually be used as an exceptional optical clock. Here, experiments to measure electronic lifetimes of Th³⁺ are described. A second experimental topic explores the production of sympathetically cooled molecular ions. The study of cold molecular ions has a number of applications, some of which include spectroscopy to aid the study of astrophysical objects, precision tests of quantum electrodynamics predictions, and the study of chemical reactions in the quantum regime. The experiments presented here involve the production of barium monohalide ions, BaX⁺ (X = F, Cl, Br). This type of molecular ion proves to be particularly promising for cooling to the rovibrational ground state. The method used for producing BaX⁺ ions involves reactions between cold, trapped Ba⁺ ions and neutral gas phase reactants at room temperature. The Ba⁺ ion reaction experiments presented in this thesis characterize these reactions for producing Coulomb crystals composed of laser cooled Ba⁺ ions and sympathetically cooled BaX⁺ ions.

A neutral atom interacting with a single mode of a high finesse cavity provides an opportunity to study uncharted quantum mechanical systems and to explore the field of quantum computing and networking. Ranging from being a deterministic single photon source to a coherent storage unit for quantum information, a strong coupling cavity QED system has proven to be a powerful tool. In this thesis, single atoms are deterministically delivered over long distances and probed in an optical cavity. Once in the cavity, a single atom is stored and continuously observed for over 15 seconds. Progress towards using atoms in the cavity to produce entangled photon pairs is presented. Dual 1D optical lattices are implemented to create a foundation for advancements in two qubit quantum operations and entanglements.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:15:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 parte1.pdf: 63647 bytes, checksum: f2fd5c831fcfe5e4d704fd18bec2cc27 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Laser cooling in high magnetic fields, presents a series of difficulties due to inhomogeneous broadening of the frequency due to Zeeman Effect. In the first part of this work we investigate the laser cooling of Li by a Monte Carlo simulation, the 2S(1/2)-> 2P(3/2) transition at 670.96 nm in a magnetic trap under the characteristics of trap operating at the LASER laboratory of the Institute of Physics, UFRJ. In the second part, we built a diode laser with extended Littrow cavity emitting in 972 nm using the configuration of extended cavity Littrow. The purpose of this laser is, after a double frequency doubling, to use it to study the hydrogen atom in the transition 1S -> 2S at 243 nm. / O resfriamento a laser em altos campos magnéticos, apresenta uma série de dificuldades devido ao alargamento inomogêneo da transição causado pelo efeito Zeeman. Na primeira parte desse trabalho investigamos o resfriamento a laser de Lítio através de uma simulação de Monte Carlo, na transição 2S1/2 -> 2P3/2 em 670.96 nm, em uma armadilha magnética com as características da armadilha em funcionamento no laboratório LASER do instituto de Física da UFRJ. Na segunda parte, foi construído um laser de diodo em cavidade estendida emitindo em 972 nm utilizando a configuração de Cavidade Estendida de Littrow. O propósito desse laser e após um duplo dobramento de freqüência, utilizá-lo para estudo do átomo de Hidrogênio na transição 1S -> 2S em 243 nm.

A novel apparatus, combining buffer-gas cooling, electrostatic velocity selection and ion trapping, has been constructed and characterised. This apparatus is designed to investigate cold ion-molecule chemistry in the laboratory, at a variable translational and internal (rotational) temperature. This improves on previous experiments with translationally cold but rotationally hot molecule sources. The ability to vary the rotational temperature of cold molecules will allow for the experimental investigation of post-Langevin capture theories.

Neste trabalho, mostramos que é possível suprimir a maioria dos processos inelásticos que podem causar perdas de átomos em armadilhas magneto-ópticas. Nossos resultados revelam que o processo de blindagem óptica (demonstrado pelo nosso grupo, pela primeira vez para o processo de ionização fotoassociativa – Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1911 (1994)) é bem mais geral do que se supunha. Permitindo, inclusive, a supressão de colisões entre átomos no estado fundamental. E provavelmente qualquer outro processo inelástico que ocorra a curtas distâncias internucleares. Para se chegar a esses resultados, foi necessário desenvolver uma nova técnica de aprisionamento, que permite o estudo de colisões frias, mesmo em armadilhas cujo potencial de confinamento é pequeno. Graças a essa técnica foi possível, pela primeira vez, observar perdas causadas por mudança de estrutura hiperfina, numa armadilha de átomos de sódio operando na linha D1 (carregada a partir de uma célula de vapor). Essa técnica ainda nos permitiu medir a taxa de colisões frias (&#61538;) no trap da linha D1, um dado que até então não existia na literatura. Para verificar a confiabilidade dos resultados obtidos por essa técnica, realizamos também medidas de &#61538; na linha D2 e comparamos esses resultados com outros existentes na literatura (obtidos por uma técnica diferente). A boa concordância entre esses resultados nos deixa confiantes em dizer que essa técnica, além de ser muito interessante, no estudo de armadilhas rasas (seja isso devido à intensidade dos lasers de aprisionamento, seja devido a natureza própria da armadilha), é também bastante confiável / In this work, we showed that is possible to suppress most of the inelastic processes that may cause losses of atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Our results reveal that the process of optical shielding (demonstrated by our group, for the first time to photoassociative ionization - Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1911 (1994)) is much more general than it was supposed. Even allowing the suppression of ground state collisions and probably any other inelastic process that happens at short internuclear distances. To achieve those results, it was necessary to develop a new trapping technique, which allows the study of cold collisions, even in traps whose confinement potential is small. Thanks to that technique it was possible, for the first time, to observe losses caused by hyperfine changing collisions, in a trap of sodium atoms operating in the D1 line (loaded from a vapor cell). That technique has still allowed us to measure the rate of cold collisions (&#61538;) for the D1 line trap, a result which, until now, did not exist in the literature. To verify the reliability of the results obtained by that technique, we also accomplished measures of &#61538; in the D2 line and compared those results with other existent ones in the literature (obtained by a different technique). The good agreement among those results, made us confident in saying that this technique, besides being very interesting in the study of shallow traps (due to the intensity of the trapping lasers, or due to the own nature of the trap), it is also quite reliable.

Ma thèse s’est déroulée dans le cadre de la collaboration AEgIS, une des expériences étudiant l’antimatière au CERN. L’objectif final est de mesurer l’effet de la gravité sur un faisceau froid d’antihydrogène (Hbar). AEgIS se propose de créer les Hbar froids par échange de charges entre un atome de Positronium (Ps) excité (état de Rydberg) et un antiproton piégé : 〖Ps〗^*+ pbar → (H^*)⁻ + e⁻. L’étude de la physique du Ps est cruciale pour AEgIS, et demande des systèmes lasers adaptés. Pendant ma thèse, ma première tâche a été de veiller au bon fonctionnement des systèmes lasers de l’expérience. Afin d’exciter le positronium jusqu’à ses états de Rydberg (≃20) en présence d’un fort champ magnétique (1 T), deux lasers pulsés spectralement larges ont été spécialement conçu. Nous avons réalisé la première excitation par laser du Ps dans son niveau n=3, et prouvé une excitation efficace du nuage de Ps vers les niveaux de Rydberg n=16-17. Ces mesures, réalisées dans la chambre à vide de test d’AEgIS, à température ambiance et pour un faible champ magnétique environnant, sont la première étape vers la formation d’antihydrogène. Le prochain objectif est de répéter ces résultats dans l’enceinte du piège à 1 T, où les antihydrogènes seront formés. Pour autant, malgré l’excitation Rydberg des Ps pour accroître la section efficace de collision, la production d’antihydrogène restera faible, et la température des H bar formés sera trop élevée pour toute mesure de gravité. Pendant ma thèse, j’ai installé au CERN un autre système laser prévu pour pratiquer une spectroscopie précise des niveaux de Rydberg du Ps. Ce système excite des transitions optiques qui pourraient convenir à un refroidissement Doppler : la transition n=1 ↔ n=2. J’ai étudié la possibilité d’un tel refroidissement, en procédant à des simulations poussées pour déterminer les caractéristiques d’un système laser adapté La focalisation du nuage de Ps grâce au refroidissement des vitesses transverses devrait accroitre le recouvrement des positroniums avec les antiprotons piégés, et ainsi augmenter grandement la production d’Hbar. Le contrôle du refroidissement et de la compression du plasma d’antiprotons est aussi essentiel pour la formation des antihydrogènes. Pendant les temps de faisceaux d’antiprotons de 2014 et 2015, j’ai contribué à la caractérisation et l’optimisation des procédures pour attraper et manipuler les antiprotons, afin d’atteindre des plasmas très denses, et ce, de façon reproductible. Enfin, j’ai participé activement à l’élaboration d’autre projet à l’étude AEgIS, qui vise aussi à augmenter la production d’antihydrogène : le projet d’un refroidissement sympathique des antiprotons, en utilisant un plasma d’anions refroidis par laser. J’ai étudié la possibilité de refroidir l’ion moléculaire C₂⁻, et les résultats de simulations sont encourageants. Nous sommes actuellement en train de développer au CERN le système expérimental qui nous permettra de faire les premiers tests de refroidissement sur le C₂⁻. Si couronné de succès, ce projet ne sera pas seulement le premier résultat de refroidissement par laser d’anions, mais ouvrira aussi les portes à une production efficace d’antihydrogènes froids. / My Ph.D project took place within the AEgIS collaboration, one of the antimatter experiments at the CERN. The final goal of the experiment is to perform a gravity test on a cold antihydrogen (Hbar) beam. AEgIS proposes to create such a cold Hbar beam based on a charge exchange reaction between excited Rydberg Positronium (Ps) and cold trapped antiprotons: 〖Ps〗^* + pbar → (H^*)⁻ + e⁻. Studying the Ps physics is crucial for the experiment, and requires adapted lasers systems. During this Ph.D, my primary undertaking was the responsibility for the laser systems in AEgIS. To excite Ps atom up to its Rydberg states (≃20) in presence of a high magnetic field (1 T), two broadband pulsed lasers have been developed. We realized the first laser excitation of the Ps into the n=3 level, and demonstrated an efficient optical path to reach the Rydberg state n=16-17. These results, obtained in the vacuum test chamber and in absence of strong magnetic field, reach a milestone toward the formation of antihydrogen in AEgIS, and the immediate next step for us is to excite Ps atoms inside our 1 T trapping apparatus, where the formation of antihydrogen will take place. However, even once this next step will be successful, the production rate of antihydrogen atoms will nevertheless be very low, and their temperature much higher than could be wished. During my Ph.D, I have installed further excitation lasers, foreseen to perform fine spectroscopy on Ps atoms and that excite optical transitions suitable for a possible Doppler cooling. I have carried out theoretical studies and simulations to determine the proper characteristics required for a cooling laser system. The transverse laser cooling of the Ps beam will enhance the overlap between the trapped antiprotons plasma and the Ps beam during the charge-exchange process, and therefore drastically improve the production rate of antihydrogen. The control of the compression and cooling of the antiproton plasma is also crucial for the antihydrogen formation. During the beam-times of 2014 and 2015, I participated in the characterization and optimization our catching and manipulation procedures to reach highly compressed antiproton plasma, in repeatable conditions. Another project in AEgIS I took part aims to improve the formation rate of ultracold antihydrogen, by studying the possibility of a sympathetically cooling of the antiprotons using a laser-cooled anion plasma. I investigated some laser cooling schemes on the C₂⁻ molecular anions, and the simulations are promising. I actively contribute to the commissioning of the test apparatus at CERN to carry on the trials of laser cooling on the C₂⁻ species. If successful, this result will not only be the first cooling of anions by laser, but will open the way to a highly efficient production of ultracold antihydrogen atoms.

This thesis reports an optical dipole trap for atomic calcium. The dipole trap is loaded from a magneto-optical trap (MOT) of calcium atoms cooled near the Doppler limit (~1 mK). The dipole trap is formed by a large-frame argon ion laser focused to 20 microns into the center of the MOT. This laser runs single-line at 488 nm with a maximum power of 10.6 watts. These parameters result in a trap of 125 mK for calcium atoms in the 4s3d 1D2 state. The 488 nm light also photo-ionizes the trapped atoms due to a near-resonant transition to the 4s4f 1F3 level. These ions leave the trap and are detected to determine the trap decay rate. By measuring this decay rate as a function of 488 nm intensity, we determine the 1F3 photo-ionization cross section at this wavelength to be approximately 230 Mb.